The Cover At first I had the same criticism that I had with the first issue with this cover. It just doesn't grab me or standout as much as a book of such quality inside deserves... but then I put it side by side with Issue 1 and you know.. it does actually work. Its not until you start seeing this tale as a whole that I think you really get it. The cover art is really well detailed and actually more atmospheric than you would appreciate at first.
The Story
Engaging, Realistic Scenes.The writing comes alive in this issue and many of the problems with issue 1 disappear. It sorta feels like watching the second hour of a pilot series where all the disjointed introductions finally get some shape. This is most notable by characters finally getting their names stated, its hard to bond with a character when you know them as 'the blonde one', and helps with the ambiguity of some of issue 1's scenes. Since the pairs of sisters look very much alike it was hard to follow what was going on at times in the first issue. Now with this issue that all comes into focus.
The threads they started are tying together and the detail of the story is starting to become clear but is still pregnant with possibility and could really go anywhere. There not been a great deal of character development so far and i feel like they are in this for the long haul and are not looking to overwhelm us with every detail of the characters and the type of relationship they actually have with each other.
This very much feels like the start of something much grander and I do hope they go on to build on the refreshing characters and world they are creating here.
Artwork Stunning Original Artwork
Once again the artwork is superb. Outstanding in colour and detail with rich dirty tones for battle and visceral action scenes that are perfectly placed as a shocking counterpoint to the slow boiling tension of the overarching plot. This book exudes atmosphere and gritty realism alongside chase scenes and infrequent bloody violence and has been a visual treat so far.
There are a few more slightly less detailed panels in this issue, but are used during the chase scene and really did not take away from the overall stunning impact of the book as a whole. There is a nasty trend of a first issue to be really a work of art and the second, with deadlines and practicalities coming into play, for quality to drop slightly and that's not really the case here. After my mild disappointment with the Hotwire series I feared that this would suffer likewise.
If I have one criticism of this series so far is that its not always obvious on first pass what is going on. I would like to have seen them delineate thoughts more from speech as it can be confusing as you scan each page and find yourself re-reading.
Conclusion For any criticism I have over the sometimes confusing lettering and not always clear scene transitions this issue clears up all the issues of the first issue with regard character identification and character motivations. Its simply superb and I am sure once collected and read as a whole this will be one of the finest comic books of this year and possibly a few to come.
Recommending With no real language and mild situations with sexual overtones (nothing worse than a Roger Moore James Bond scene.. actually there is nothing worse than a Roger Moore as James Bond sex scene) combined with some bloody violence that is brutal and a story of political intrigue I would say this is certainly a mid teen comic book and up.
Best Thing: Dina and Elliot in the melon cart.
Worst Thing: Slightly confusing combination of thoughts and speech in some panels.
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